Saabeth – my son’s Saab 900 Turbo T16 – is stored in a dry location back here in Bonn for a few months now. Every few weeks I did a start check up on the car. I started up the engine, recharged the battery and checked the dehumidifier. Back in August I noticed that the bi-yearly TÜV (MOT) check is overdue. Therefore, it was time to give the Saab some tender, love and care. In addition to the TÜV, I also wanted to address the sagging headliner. But after pulling out the car from storage the todo list quickly got longer. As usual the engine started immediately. The idle is smooth and after a few minutes’ drops to the expected 900rpm. While driving in city traffic everything seemed to running well. But after about 20min and just outside the city area, the engine lost power while trying to accelerate.
During the TÜV checks three new rust holes were discovered. One on the left rear wheel arch. The other two on the right floor pan. This had to rectified first. I also noticed that one of the front shock absorbers is leaking slightly. The front suspension bushes are not in the best condition. But before I start addressing the front suspension, I wanted to get rid of the engine problem. As the ignition system was just inspected and overhauled back last summer by HFT in Windeck, I initially ruled out the coil, distributed, cables and spark plugs. With fuel injection control unit from Bosch and the Saab Automatic Power Control for the Turbo – I was out of my comfort zone when it comes to trouble shooting the issue. HFT in Windeck officially closed its doors this year. Website is down; telephone does not work anymore. On the Saab Forum I found an newly enlisted Saab garage in Bonn.
“Auto Thomas” in Bonn has been around for many years. I linked them to Volkswagen, but apparently their sell many brands now. Their service/workshop part is vendor independant. And what is even better – they have mechanics that know Saabs. The team there was friendly and I asked them for a fault analysis. Their testing did not take long. They believe that the Bosch LH-Jetronic 2.2 unit is broken. Their main indicator was an unknown switch wired to earth, just in front of the unit. Fuel pressure was also checked and OK. Unfortunately, overall their diagnose left too much uncertainty.
I decided to post a question on the German Saab forum. The majority of replies I got suggested to look elsewhere (ignition, vacuum hoses) first. So I did. The ignition cables are a bit old – so a new pair did not hurt. A spare distributor cap and finger is also always a good idea – I also exchange this. New spark plugs only cost a few Euro – I also replaced them. All of this did not result in a change – expect for having the old stuff as emergency spare in the trunk. The only thing not changed so far on the igniton side is the coil.
As I could not really get any further with the engine issue, I decided to address the holes in the floor next. For this the better part of the interior had to be removed. This turned out to be quite easy. Everything is screwed on. Most of the fasteners seemed to be orginial. I took my time and make tons of pictures. The center console was the only tricky part – but I found a video on Youtube that helped me. After about three hours my previous empty workbench was filled with Saab parts. Removing the sound deading revealed the problematic areas and made them accessable. Karosseriebau Pütz in Bonn did the repairs and even without the interior trim Saabeth passed the TÜV.
The carpets are currently being cleaned. The door trim parts are rusted and need to be painted. Most annoying is the headliner. The cardboard like material that the liner was glued to was already torn when I removed it. Not sure how and if this can be repaired. There is a company in the UK which sells new headliners on fiberglass panels. I think this would be the best option. But shipping is unfeasible. Maybe a good reason for a road trip in the Saab next year????
To be continued….
Fixing C6622 
Leave a comment